KX1

Completed Kit

Well the Elecraft KX1 is the first kit  for me and little did I know it was the beginning toward a great journey with Elecraft kits. I was not to sure of my soldering skills seeing I had never built any kit before. I did lots of searching on the web to get as much information as I could. I picked up some small circuit boards along with various components to practice soldering. What convinced me to get the KX1 was all the reviews on Eham and the options I was able to get and build for this kit. It was not  the cheapest of all my options but it seem to have all I wanted in a kit. Well the kit arrived and my first impression was how could all this stuff in the shipping bags fit into this small circuit board, then into the tiny case. I sorted all the components and nothing was missing at all. I measured the values of each component to make sure all was well and then it was into a labeled bags. I have continued this method for all my Elecraft kits. It gets me  familiarized with all the parts and allows me to check each part. Sure it does take time but less time if something goes wrong and the part is either defective, incorrect or my mistake in picking the wrong part and soldering it in. This being my first kit I took my time and double checked all steps before proceeding.

Antenna tuner

As I made it through each section and passed the checkouts it was a cool feeling to see the radio come together, it slowly move toward completion. Once the KX1 was complete there was the accessories to build as well such as the internal antenna tuner. By this time I was getting itchy for completing the kit and seeing  it worked on the air. The KX1 is a radio that is for portable operation  so the components have to be a certain height that way when the options such as the antenna tuner is added it actually will fit. I will say it sure was a tight fit but following the very well laid  out instructions you will have no troubles. I did want to take a moment and briefly mention the Elecraft support. It is by far the best ever, the only thing I can say is purchase a kit and find out for yourself. The whole team at Elecraft go over and far far above to make sure your kit building is a success and that you have answers to your problems. Their goal is to turn your problems into success.

Antenna tuner installed

The is how the KX1 looks with the antenna tuner in it. The KX1 is a very small unit, you notice this when the tuner is added things are very tight. Well the kit is now built and when I did my final tests the power output was down. A fast email to Elecraft gave me the solution which was my spacing on two toroid's. A fine adjustment of the windings and all was well. I now have had the KX1 in use for over 2 years, I have used it in my car with a mono band whip antenna and have contacted all through the U.S. and into parts or Europe. All this with about 3 watts !!! I have been wanting to try the KX1 with a  Miracle whip antenna that I have. One day I will try it out on the back deck. I have not gotten around to that yet as many things have come up as they always seem to do. If and when I do it I will post the pic's and results on the blog.